A SPRINGTIME SOLAR SURPRISE

 I've been away from the boat for awhile. I was traveling to warm places each month over the winter. Plus getting COVID knocked me down but, not out for two weeks. So I did not get on BIANKA for my usual checkups and battery charges. Usually that would not be a problem since my 48 volt solar panels would keep things topped up. So it was a surprise when I looked at the data from the new Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100-Volt 20 amp 48V solar controller.  

Where I noticed several days of no charging data and when there was some charging it was lower than usual. I also noticed the Dual Pro four bank charger was charging at the lowest bar display. This meant the batteries where in a more discharged condition than I've seen in a long time.  

Time for some serious diagnosis on what was happening with the solar charging system. I first checked the 48 volt solar panel voltages and they were near their open circuit voltage specs. I then turned my attention to the Anderson connectors that I used to combine the panel wires to the solar controller. It was there I found the problem. I installed the panels and connectors over twelve years ago. My mistake was never doing any maintenance on the connectors in those years. I found despite taping the connectors to improve their water proofing most of the Anderson contacts had corroded to the point where they were no longer conducting voltage.

I redid the connection using some Spade Connectors I had on board and the problem was solved if only temporarily. Now I need to see if the 48 volt electric propulsion battery bank comes back to full charge as we head toward spring launching. 

BLOG UPDATE:  Going back a few days later and the solar controller charging and battery bank was back to normal. 

 The battery bank was charging normally using the Dual Pro charger. So it looks like things are moving in the right direction for a spring launching.

 

INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART 9: CONNECTIONS

The battery end of the project has been wired up with fuses and Anderson connectors. The helm meter panel like wise has been wired and tested. So the only thing that remains is to connect the two with wires. There are four meters each monitoring one of the four 12 volt batteries in the 48 volt electric propulsion string. I thought about individual wires in a harness, duplex wire and various other cable types. Happily I found what I needed in a trash bin that fit my needs perfectly.
    I was doing some freelance work in a building that was undergoing some renovation and found about fifty feet of E90298 cable made by National Wire about to be thrown out. It had ten 20 AWG wires inside a durable UV resistant cover.  It even had a shield around the bundled wires. The wires were also tinned making it perfect for the marine environment on board as it would be more resistant to corrosion than bare copper. Best of all I could not beat the price FREE! I love to recycle where I can and this cable instead ending up in a landfill  is perfect for the instrumentation project interconnection.

I love it when a plan comes together like this. Because I only needed eight wires to measure the four individual battery voltages it meant I had two spare wires that I might use down the road for something. The only issue I thought might be a problem is each of the 10 wires in the harness were different colors. Which could be confusing down the road in trying to figure out which wire was positive or negative when connecting or trouble shooting. But this was easily solved after I first assigned the color coded wires to each battery:

Because of the various colors used to connect the batteries I decided to cover each wire with two different colored heat shrink at the battery end. Red for the wires that went to the positive battery terminals and black for wires that went to the negative battery terminals. These would help avoid confusion and mis-connections even though the Anderson Powerpole connectors where color coded. It just adds helps eliminate confusion. It would also add another layer of protection for the wires:

.I also put on some  General Purpose 1/4-inch Braided Cable Sleeve over the heat shrinked wires. This not only kept the wires together making for neater wire runs but, also added another layer of protection to the wiring harness:

All I needed to do now was crimp on the Anderson Powerpole pins and insert them into the proper color coded powerpole housing and the battery end of the instrumentation project was done:

 For the helm end of wire I chose to enclose each pair of wires in white heat shrink:

and connect them to the helm panel meters box:

After an operations check out the project was just about complete. All that I needed to do was to add a little sealant to the back of the Anderson Powerpole connectors to water proof the wires and also inside and outside of the meter enclosure box where they connect up. I used Marine Goop. Once that was done it was time to move on to wiring the battery current meter.

INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART 8 CLICK HERE


INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART 10 CLICK HERE

A LIGHT PROJECT

I bought another BEBI BEKA LED light for the boat. I find it to be a rugged and versatile light for use on board. It can also serve as a backup anchor light should the one on the top of the mast fail at anytime. I've also mentioned before how much I like to use Anderson Power Pole connectors for various uses on board the boat.  So with the new light on board and a spare 12 volt cigarette power plug I came up with an adapter project that will come in useful:

First I used a Crimper made for the Anderson Power Poles to crimp connectors for the BEBI Beka LED light:

I then checked with an ohm meter the positive wire of the cigarette lighter plug. This is important step to make sure you have the correct polarity in the wiring of the connectors. If wrong you could blow a fuse at worse you could have an electrical fire on board. Best to avoid both situations by checking the wiring:

Once the connectors are crimped on the wires they are inserted into the Anderson color coded housing and are ready to go and be used in various configurations on board:

For example I use the BEKA light for nighttime illumination in the cockpit. But, I could also easily add an extension cable between the cigarette plug and the BEKA light and hoist it up the mast as an emergency anchor light if needed.

TOOLS OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR: Anderson Powerpole Connectors

BIANKA has several places where I can tap into the boats 12 volt house battery bank to use external electronic devices. Unfortunately, they are the standard 12 volt cigarette lighter type of sockets.

 Which work but, not always reliably. The plugs can sometimes easily disconnect or just make a poor contact. Normally it's not a big problem but, as has happened if my Engel Fridge Freezer gets disconnected and I don't notice it it can mean a few spoiled meals or warm beers. Looking around for some better connectors to use for some electrical projects. I came upon these Anderson Powerpole Connectors 

They are used by a lot of Ham Radio Operators for connecting power to their radio setups. They make for quick and easy connections. The contacts wipe across each other as you connect and disconnect them which helps keep the contacts clean . Which helps make low resistance connections and means less power is wasted and connections more reliable. Which is not always the case with the cigarette lighter type sockets.

Anderson makes various Power Pole connector models including connectors that have ratings into several hundred amps. In fact BIANKA already had several larger 75 Amp Anderson Power Pole connectors used in connecting the solar panels, wind generator and battery charger into the electric propulsion controller box:

However the ones I'm using most on board for my projects are the three lowest amperage connectors they make:

All three of these connectors fit  the same Power Pole housing but, accommodate different gauge of wire sizes. All three can be interconnected with each other too.

After crimping the wires into the connector you simply insert them into the plastic housing from the rear:

 until it snaps over a metal locking tab on the inside  front the case making for a secure connection that won't pull out:

Another nice thing about the Anderson Connectors is you can slide them together to make nice modular power plugs. You can insert a small pin in the hole between the connectors:

to keep them mated or put a dab of glue too on them too. Though I have found the stay mated pretty good without doing either of those things.

Another nice thing about Anderson Power Pole connectors is that the cases are available in a variety of colors:

Which comes in handy if you have a boat like BIANKA which in addition the a 12 volt house bank also has has a 48 volt propulsion bank and various external devices like solar panels and a wind turbine that operate  at 48 volts. I like that I can use a different color cases to make sure that the proper devices get connected to up to others with the proper voltage.

Another nice thing about Anderson connectors is that you can make up mult cables easily when you need them to power multiple electric devices from one outlet:

The above mult was made using three 15 amp connectors (note they have not been inserted into their proper cases yet)  on the left and a 30 amp connector on the right already inserted into a case. These mults are much less bulky than trying to use one of these 12 volt cigarette type of mults. 

Here is a photo of a completed mult:

and when the Anderson Connectors are mated together:

The Anderson connectors are more reliable too.

 Anderson connectors are not waterproof so I would not use them in the bilge or any areas where they could be submerged. But, in areas where you currently have cigarette type of sockets  they will allow for smaller, reliable and more secure connections.  I've got a few electric projects planned on board and will be showing how I use the Anderson Power Pole connectors  in future posts.

ON BIANKA'S BOOKSHELF: Books of an electric sailor

I've seen a number of posts recently  on various sailing sites of people wanting to find books on gaining knowledge about all things electrical on board their boats. I have two books on board BIANKA that I consider worth having on board. One is Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual: How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems by Nigel Calder.

My dog eared and oil stained copy has been on board since I first purchased BIANKA back in 1995. Since I converted to electric propulsion there are now whole chapters concerning diesel engines and alternators I can now ignore. But, others especially those concerning electrical wiring and extensive coverage of batteries have come in very handy. For example I purchased a heavy duty crimper to make the crimps on the 2 AWG wire interconnects for the electric propulsion battery bank. Unfortunately, my crimper had markings only for metric sized wires. I opened Calders book and found a conversion chart that allowed me to set the crimper to the proper setting. It's information like that which can save the day when you are in some far away anchorage trying to make repairs.The Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual : How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems is also available for the Kindle.

The other book which I find useful is  Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook by Charlie Wing. It contains a lot of information about the various electrical systems one would find on board and the theory of how they work. There's DC and AC theory covered as well as things like bonding and corrosion issues. Wiring color codes and a number of charts and formulas as well. The Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook is also available as a Kindle e-book download. 

Both books are worthy of the space they take up on board. Both are very useful if you just want to understand about electrical systems and devices on board your boat, need to do some repairs or even rewire your boat. After converting to electric propulsion I find them even more valuable to have on board.

BATTERY TO DO LIST OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR

Because of the charging issue with one of my propulsion batteries it is the first time in four years that I have had to actually squeeze my six foot two inch frame down below the cockpit to work there. I've had an  item on my to do list concerning the batteries for those four years. That was to replace the electric tape covered terminals with something more robust and protective. When I first I looked around I could not find exactly what I was looking for to protect these terminals. But, eventually I found something I could modify to work. It is the  Rotating Cable Cap from Blue Sea Systems:

They can help insulate the battery terminals better than just wrapping them up with electrical tape.

 
In order to use the Blue Sea Caps I had to modify the base part using a box cutter or razor blade to notch out an opening to accommodate the battery terminals as shown below:

Below  is the end result. It does not have to be perfect but, just big enough to allow the battery tab fit.

The photo below shows the base part of the Blue Seas cap installed over the battery terminal. The upper cap attaches to the base part to help protect the terminal and rotates in the direction of how the wire is run to the terminal. But, both can be removed easily too for cleaning and servicing.

Since I'm down below connecting and disconnecting the battery cables it seems like a good time to finish up the last item concerning the battery bank.